1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to manufacturing bottles and, more particularly, to an improved bottle manufacturing machine with pneumatic conveying apparatus for container bodies and pneumatic conveying apparatus for base cups and a base cupping assembly and for joining the conveyed container bodies and base cups to form bottles.
2. Description of the Background Art
Many types of plastic bottles manufactured from thermoplastic synthetic resins are in wide use throughout the carbonated beverage and other industries because of the economical cost of manufacture of the same. Plastic bottles of this character are usually formed from injection molded parisons having a threaded neck portion and a long slender body portion. The injection molded parison is blow-molded to its intended size by positioning the parison in a blow-molding unit, applying heat to the body portion of the parison, and then injecting air into the parison to blow-mold the same to the desired shape.
Experience has shown that blow-molding flat bottomed plastic bottles are not satisfactory in terms of stability against deformation during use. Hence, virtually all blow-molded parisons include rounded bottoms to which is glued a previously injection molded base cup. The base cup provides great durability against deformation.
A state-of-the-art base cupping machine for assembling base cups to round-bottomed plastic bottles is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,132,584 to Aidlin. Basically, this machine comprises a multilevel turntable having equispaced pockets about its periphery. During use, blow-molded plastic bodies are deposited into the recesses of the upper levels by means of a conveyor system interposed between the blow-molding machine and the turntable. Further downline of the periphery of the turntable, a supply of base cups is deposited into the recesses of the lower most level. Then, during operation, the container bodies inserted within the upper levels of the turntable are forced downwardly by pneumatic cylinders into engagement with the respective base cups below. The container bodies are then rigidly secured within the base cups by means of an adhesive sprayed into the base cup prior to being deposited within the recesses of the turntable. The assembled plastic bottles are then ejected from the turntable for subsequent cleaning and filling with the desired beverage or the like.
The machine described above has been widely accepted throughout the industry. Unfortunately, a significant problem associated with that type of machine is the feeding of the base cups therein with the adhesive already sprayed into the inside bottom of the base cups. Specifically, as disclosed in said patent, the adhesive is applied to the base cups by means of an adhesive spray nozzle positioned above the path of base cups moving below on a flat conveyor. Since experience has shown that spraying the adhesive into a base cup is feasibly only when the base cup is stationary, it therefore becomes necessary to constantly stop the movement of the conveyor belt such that the base cup remains stationary underneath the adhesive spray nozzle for a short, but finite, period of time.
The necessity to stop the flow of the base cups also requires that the movement of the turntable be continually interrupted to coincide with the interrupted flow of base cups into the turntable's recesses. Consequently, the continual interrupted movement of the turntable significantly reduces the speed in throughput of the machine. Furthermore, the interrupted movement of the turntable significantly increases the wear on the component parts thereof, thereby decreasing the operational life of the machine.
The features of a bottle manufacturing machine without the continual interrupted movement of the prior art are disclosed in U.S. patent application Ser. No. 07/062,157, entitled Interrupted Screw Feed for Base Cupping Machine, executed and filed concurrently herewith in the name of Aidlin et al and assigned to the assignee of the instant application.
Another problem associated with the known machines for manufacturing bottles is in the apparatus for conveying the container bodies and base cups. For example, the above-mentioned patent to Aidlin feeds both the container bodies and base cups to the base cupping assembly by mechanical conveyors. Such conveyors have performed their functions adequately in the past. More recently, however, container bodies have been fed pneumatically by flows of air which effect the intended conveying more efficiently than mechanical conveyors. A typical pneumatic conveyor for use in association with a base cupping assembly is described in U.S. Pat. No. 4,284,370 to Danler. However, pneumatic conveyors in use today, including those of the type disclosed in the above-described Danler patent, are excessively large and costly and do not employ the conveying air in an efficient manner. As a result, the operation and use of such known pneumatic conveyors is inefficient, loud and costly to both manufacture and operate. Further, the conveying often imparts a rocking motion to the conveyed articles resulting in jams and down time of the equipment.
As illustrated by the large number of prior patents and known conveying techniques, efforts are continuously being made in an attempt to convey articles such as container bodies and base cups more efficiently, conveniently, reliably and economically. None of these previous efforts, however, provides the benefits attendant with the present invention. Additionally, prior techniques do not suggest the present inventive combination of component elements as disclosed and claimed herein. The present invention achieves its intended purposes, objectives and advantages over the prior art devices through a new, useful and unobvious combination of component elements which is simple to use, with the utilization of a minimum number of functioning parts, at a reasonable cost to manufacture and use and by employing only readily available components.
Therefore, it is an object of this invention to provide an improved bottle manufacturing machine with pneumatic conveying apparatus for container bodies and pneumatic conveying apparatus for base cups and a base cupping assembly and for joining the conveyed container bodies and base cups to form bottles.
It is a further object of the invention to provide an improved pneumatic conveying apparatus for container bodies. The apparatus comprising a pair of laterally spaced neck tracks defining an elongated slot therebetween for slidingly supporting a container body by its neck. The apparatus also comprises an inverted, U-shaped, interior channel member extending upwardly from the neck tracks spanning the slot and extending longitudinally substantially the length of the slot and having a cross sectional area sufficient to receive the portion of a container body above its neck, the interior channel member having a top wall and side walls with air directing louvers formed in the top wall and side walls. The apparatus also comprises an inverted, U-shaped, exterior channel member extending upwardly from the neck tracks enclosing the interior channel member and extending longitudinally substantially the length of the slot, the cross sectional area of the exterior channel member being between about five and fifteen times larger than the cross sectional area of the interior channel member. The apparatus also comprises pneumatic means to introduce air under pressure to the space between the exterior and interior channel members whereby such space may constitute a plenum chamber and direct a flow of air within the interior chamber in a direction dictated by the angle of the louvers for conveying container bodies supported by their necks on the neck tracks in the direction of the air flow.
It is yet a further object of the invention to pneumatically convey container bodies with interior and exterior channel members with a plenum chamber between the members and with louvers in the top and side walls of the interior chamber.
Lastly, it is an object of the invention to reduce the size, cost and noise of pneumatic conveyors while increasing their efficiency.
The foregoing has outlined some of the more pertinent objects of the invention. These objects should be construed to be merely illustrative of some of the more prominent features and applications of the intended invention. Many other beneficial results can be attained by applying the disclosed invention in a different manner or modifying the invention within the scope of the disclosure. Accordingly, other objects and a fuller understanding of the invention may be had by referring to the summary of the invention and the detailed description of the preferred embodiment in addition to the scope of the invention defined by the claims taken in conjuction with the accompanying drawings.